Hester Shaw, later known as Hester Natsworthy, is the lead heroine of

Philip Reeve Philip Reeve (born 28 February 1966) is a British author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book ''Mortal Engines'' and its sequels (the 2001 to 2006 '' Mortal Engines Quartet''). His 2007 novel, '' Here Lies Arth ...

's '' Mortal Engines Quartet''.

Background and life

Hester Shaw, aged around fifteen at the beginning of the Quartet, is the daughter of Thaddeus Valentine and Pandora Shaw. She was raised by Shrike. Hester is portrayed as having copper hair and gray eyes. She has a scar which cut her face from forehead to jaw, a wrenched mouth, a stump nose, and a single eye. The character's surname comes from

Shaugh Prior Shaugh Prior is a village and civil parish on the south-western side of Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England. It is situated about 8 miles north-east of the historic centre of the city of Plymouth. In 2001 its population was 751. The parish s ...

Role

In the first novel of the '' Mortal Engines Quartet'' (known in the US as ''The Hungry City Chronicles''), ''

Mortal Engines ''Mortal Engines'' is a young-adult science fantasy novel by Philip Reeve, published by Scholastic UK in 2001. The book focuses on a futuristic, steampunk version of London, now a giant machine striving to survive on a world that is runni ...

'', her botched assassination attempt on Thaddeus Valentine led to Tom Natsworthy and set off a chain of events that would change the course of history. She is a key character in each book in the Quartet, often in the center of conflicts that occur. She is the mother of Wren Natsworthy.

In other media

In the ''Mortal Engines'' student short film made in 2009, Alyssa Burnett plays Hester. One of her photos are mistakenly identified as a

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subcultur ...

. There is a 28mm figure based on Hester Shaw. In ''

'', the film adaptation of the first book, Hester is portrayed by Icelandic actress Hera Hilmar as an adult, while the young Hester is played by New Zealand child actress Poppy Macleod. Her scar is heavily toned down, and she is aged to her twenties. Hilmar described her character as challenging to play.

Christian Rivers Christian Rivers is a New Zealand storyboard artist, visual effects supervisor, special effects technician, and director. He first met Peter Jackson as a 17-year-old, and storyboarded all of Jackson's films since '' Braindead''. He made his di ...

, the director of the film, addressed the fan criticism over Hester's scar, stating that audiences would be "put off the film" if it were more true to the books. The author acknowledged the difference. Reviewers from FilmBook,

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

, and

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remarked that this rendition of Hester lacks character development. Other changes include: she lost her mother when she was eight and she fought Valentine aboard his airship. This was Hilmar's last international film role before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Hester Mortal Engines Characters in British novels of the 21st century Child characters in film Female characters in film Female characters in literature Fictional characters with disfigurements Fictional suicides Literary characters introduced in 2001 Orphan characters in literature Predator Cities Teenage characters in literature

Background and life

Role

In other media

See also

References